Building a multicore, and other cables. What makes a good cable?

[chrisghost]

I've been fixing and resoldering cables for myself (and basicly every musician I know) for close to 20 years. So I know how to solder, I know a good plug, I know how to avoid ground hum... what still puzzles me is:

What makes a good cable?

I'm about to build a 24 pairs multicable for my studio. 8 meters at the very most, just control room to studio. I want good quality, so I'll pay what I have to, but preferably not móre than I have to. I can't see the forest for the trees.

1 - Double shielded multicore seems the way to go. Is the extra foil layer around the combined pairs enough? Some multicore cables have an extra braided grounding instead. This seems "better", but maybe just for long stretches of cable?
2 - Why do a lot of big brands (Gotham, Belden, Canare etc.) use tinned coper wiring? Isn't copper always the better option?
3 - Can I use Digital AES/EBU cable, why / why not?

Even in fixing microphone cables over the years I've encountered so many types of mic cable it puzzles me to what is the key to a good one.

4 - You get cables with unbraided copper shielding, or braided silver collored (?) shielding. Hardly ever braided copper shielding, why? (I've seen Prefer and Stageline cables, that seem (at least) sturdier then Klotz or Cordial cables. Ussually Prefer and Stageline seem to use the braided silver collored shielding, ussually Klotz or Cordial unbraided copper.)
5 - What's with all this rope they put inside cables?
6 - To what degree do multiple layers of rubber (etc.) coating you sometimes find have an inpact on quality?

Anyone?

 

[Murdersgalore]

I believe that tin is added to copper to make it more corrosion resistant while still retaining most of the conductance of copper. The question I would ask would be if the wire is a mix of tin and copper or a copper core coated with tin as I would think the latter would be better for conductivity. I am no expert though, so maybe someone else can answer your questions better.

 

[Treeline]

Where's JGourd when we need him?

Jonathon has all these answers in his back pocket and has built a reputation not only as a geek's geek, but also as one hell of a cable builder.

 

[chrisghost]

Bump... it's been a couple of days, but still hoping that Jonathon Gourd will show up to shed some light...

I've been doing more research, but haven't gotten far.